Astronomical work done in governance reform

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley. (GIS Photo)

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has pushed back at criticism that his government had been moving slowly but is now rushing to achieve Commission of Inquiry (COI) recommended governance reforms with a May deadline looming over its head.

He argued that despite appearances, much work has been done after the issues identified in the COI had been ignored for decades. “The need for reform has existed before I was in this position. A lot of the things in the reform process have been spoken about for decades,” he stated.

He warned that although the progress may appear slow to some, from his standpoint, there has been considerable movement in addressing deep-rooted issues since he assumed office.

“The amount of work that we have done to reform years worth of weak governance is astronomical… and I’m not just looking for credit for myself, but credit for the entire government,” the Premier said.

He reiterated that the government is doing all of this even as it continues to recover from the 2017 hurricanes and the effects of a global pandemic. “We have challenges in our financial services sector that we’re being confronted with, we have all the other challenges that we experience in day-to-day living,” the Premier remarked. “And we have to do this at the same time. So I would say I’m quite impressed with what we’ve been able to do.”

The Premier stressed the importance of self-driven governance reforms, pushing for a shift away from depending on external pressures, represented in the past by a “big stick,” to bring about change.

He emphasised that societies such as the Virgin Islands need to progress to a point where internal accountability mechanisms, specifically the voters, promote good governance.

“If there are things which are happening which should not happen, our institutions should be able to address them even ahead of a general election,” he added. “So that’s what we are working towards.”

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